Psalms · Psalm 11

"How do you say to my soul, “Wander from your mountain, etc." — This is on the order of (I Sam. 26: 19): “for they have driven me today from cleaving to the Lord’s heritage,” for they drove him out of the [Holy] Land to outside the [Holy] Land, and here he says, “I took refuge in the Lord [hoping] that He would restore me to cleave to His heritage. How do You, who drive away my soul, say to me,..."“Wander from your mountain”?" — Pass over your mountain, you wandering bird. For every wandering person is compared to a bird that wanders from its nest, as it is written (in Prov. 27:8): “As a bird wandering from its nest, so is a man wandering from his place.” For your nest has wandered, because we have driven you from the entire mountain like a wandering bird. The masoretic spelling is נודו [plural] because it is also expounded on in reference to Israel, that the nations say that to them.

"For the leader... how do you say" — the sense of 'eikh tomeru' (how do you say) is addressed directly to his wicked enemies; it is to them that he speaks. "Harkhem" (your mountain) — [meaning] 'your mountain' [with a plural 'your']. "And a bird" [u-tzippor] — the comparative kaf is missing, as in 'and he called out, A lion, by the watchtower — Hashem' (Isaiah 21:8) — meaning 'like a lion,' for it is Hashem who is the one calling out. And the proof is that 'al mitzpeh' is vocalized with three dots [i.e., not construct], for it is not in the construct state. For the sense [of the verse] is: 'you say to my soul, flee from yourself to our mountain, for you are like a bird' — and behold, 'the bow is bent in darkness' [verse 2].

'For the Leader; of David. In Hashem I have taken refuge; how do you say to my soul: Flee!' — 'Nodu' [flee, plural] is the written form; 'nodi' [flee, singular] is the read form [קרי]. The written form corresponds to both the body and the soul, meaning: that his enemies said of him that his body would perish — that Sha'ul would put him to death — and his soul likewise, for they used to say of him that he was wicked, and that his soul would perish and wander, in the manner of 'He shall sling it out, as from the hollow of a sling' (I Samuel 25:29); and the read form refers to his soul, for it is that which directs the body. 'Harkhem' [your mountain] — how can you say to her [the soul] that she should flee 'from your mountain,' since she had come there to take refuge, '[to] your mountain'? And 'harkhem' is equivalent to 'me-harkhem' [from your mountain]. Similarly, 'Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem' (II Samuel 23:24) is like 'from Bethlehem'; 'until a nation had taken vengeance of its enemies' (Joshua 10:13) is like '[vengeance] from its enemies.' And he says this concerning his enemies who were revealing his location to Sha'ul, for he had intended to take refuge in that place, and they were disclosing it to Sha'ul, as it says, 'And it was told to Sha'ul that David had come to Keilah' (I Samuel 23:7). And the meaning of 'bird' — [is] like a bird that wanders from nest to nest and from mountain to mountain. And the kaf of comparison is missing [though understood], as in 'a lion's whelp, [like a lion,] is Judah' (Genesis 49:9); 'Issachar is a large-boned donkey' (ibid. 49:14), and similar cases. And David says, in response to the enemies who were revealing his whereabouts: 'In Hashem I have taken refuge,' regardless. Even though I am fleeing, 'in Hashem have I taken refuge,' that He may save me; but as for you, how can you 'say to my soul that it should flee'?

"To my soul" — How can you say concerning my soul, "Your mountain flees like a bird"? That is to say, the king of Israel flees from Saul like this wandering bird, whose end is to fall into a net, and so too will his end be — to fall into Saul's hand. And he says: How can you say such a thing? Have I not taken refuge in Hashem, who is all-powerful to save me?

"For behold the wicked" — Doeg and the informers of the generation who cause hatred between me and Saul. "tread" — The expression of treading is appropriate for the bow, because if it is stout, he must place his foot on it when he wishes to bend it. "the bow" — They have directed their tongue treacherously [as] their bows (Jer. 9:2). "they set their arrow on the bowstring" — lit. the cord [the string], of the bow, corde d’arche in French, a bowstring. "in the dark" — In secret. "at the upright of heart" — David and the priests of Nob. "to shoot" — ajeter in French.

'For, lo, the wicked bend the bow' — just as you reveal [my whereabouts] against me, so will others to whom you flee reveal [it] against me, for such is the way of the wicked, to bend 'the bow' 'they have made ready their arrow upon the string' — and to make ready 'their arrow upon the string' of 'the bow.' 'to shoot in darkness' — that is, in secret. 'at the upright in heart' — like myself today, for there is no sin in me. And he says 'to shoot,' yet they do not [actually] shoot, for their deeds and their intentions do not succeed, since 'in Hashem I have taken refuge.' And the midrashic interpretation (with a slight variation in wording, in the Midrash Shocher Tov on this passage) explains this matter as referring to Israel. At the time Israel went into exile, the nations of the world rejoiced over them, at their being exiled from their place. It is not written here 'nodi' [singular] but 'nodu' [plural], [applying] both upward and downward. Upward: 'like a bird that wanders from its nest, so is a man who wanders from his place' (Proverbs 27:8); and 'man' here refers to none other than the Holy One, blessed be He, as it says (Exodus 15:3), 'Hashem is a man of war,' and His 'place' is none other than the Temple, as it says (Psalms 132:14), 'This is My resting place forever.' Downward: Israel. 'For, lo, the wicked bend the bow, they have made ready their arrow upon the string.' Rabbi Berechiah said in the name of Rabbi Abba: this refers to Shevna and Yoach. What did they do? They wrote a letter, fastened it to an arrow, and shot it out to Sennacherib through the window, and written in it was: 'All Israel wish to make peace with you; but Isaiah and Hezekiah do not let them.' 'To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart' — to destroy the two 'upright in heart,' Hezekiah and Isaiah.

"For, lo" — that is to say, if you think that Hashem has forsaken me because of the sin of the killing of the priests of Nob — behold, "the wicked have bent the bow," etc.; this is a metaphor for the slander (lashon hara) that Doeg spoke to Saul about the priests of Nob. "To shoot" — the arrows. "In darkness" — that is, in secret. "At the upright in heart" — referring to the priests of Nob.

'Yeter' — the string of the bow, as in 'seven [fresh] bowstrings' (Judges 16:5). 'Lirot' — [meaning] to cast, as in 'He cast into the sea' (Exodus 15). 'Bemo' — like 'betoch' (within). 'Ofel' — darkness.

"For, lo, the wicked bend the bow" — and also "they have made ready their arrow upon the string, to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart" — for they lie in wait for the upright in darkness to strike them down, and their arrows are made ready, and they even succeed in their deeds.

"For the foundations were destroyed" — Because of you the righteous priests of the Lord, who are the foundation of the world, were slain. "what did the righteous man do" — David, who did not sin, what did he do in this entire matter? [He said to Doeg,] You shall bear the iniquity, not I.

"For the foundations" [ki ha-shatot] — [means] strongholds, as in 'and her foundations shall be crushed' (Isaiah 19:10). And some say: [it means] foundations, as in 'and the base is laid bare' (Isaiah 20:4), and the proof is 'they are destroyed' [later in this verse]; and this alludes to the [proper] counsels, which are like foundations. And the sense of 'tzaddik mah pa'al' (what has the righteous wrought?) is: this is the work of God — do not complain against the righteous man. Therefore what follows is 'Hashem is in His holy temple' — that is, the heavens. "His eyes behold" [einav yechezu] — corresponds to [the earlier phrase,] 'to shoot in the darkness' (verse 2).

"For the foundations are destroyed" — What [becomes] of the righteous, who founded Your world, and what of the Foundation Stone from which the world was founded, when the wicked arose and destroyed it? "What has the righteous wrought" — What recompense have You wrought for those who perform the commandments?! (Abridged from Midrash Shocher Tov; see there.) "For the foundations are destroyed" — "the foundations" [shatot] are the foundations [yesodot], as in "and its foundations shall be crushed" (Isaiah 19:10), and "the fundament laid bare" (Isaiah 20:4). Or its meaning is: nets and snares; and either this or that is a metaphor for thoughts and counsel. "What has the righteous wrought" — for the thoughts of the wicked "are destroyed," and what they planned to do does not come about for them, while "the righteous" will have "what he has wrought," meaning Hashem will repay him according to his righteousness.

"When the foundations" — These wicked men destroyed the foundation of the world; they are the priests of Nob, the righteous ones, the foundations of the world. "What has the righteous wrought" — concerning himself, David says: Am I not righteous in this? And what have I done? Have I not done nothing [wrong]?

'Hashatot' — the foundations, as in 'and its foundations shall be crushed' (Isaiah 19).

"For the foundations are destroyed" — for they [the wicked] destroy the foundations of the world, since they cause the righteous — who are the foundations of the world — to perish, and they destroy the foundations of civil society and its peace. And nevertheless, "the righteous, what has he wrought?" — since Hashem is the righteous one, it would have been fitting for Him to perform a providential act to punish the wicked and protect the righteous, for this is fitting to do from the standpoint of justice and judgment — so why has He done nothing? Hence [they conclude] that He does not exercise providence (and this is like the arguments of Job, who argued thus in order to deny providence) — this is the argument of [David's] contemporaries; [the psalmist] now begins to respond to their arguments. "Hashem" — the two halves of the verse are parallel: ["Hashem is in His holy Temple, His eyes behold the children of men"]; ["Hashem, His throne is in heaven, His eyelids try the children of men"] — meaning that we see that Hashem's providence over His world, and His reward and punishment, are at times revealed and at times hidden. For on one side, the intelligent person sees and pictures to himself that Hashem sits "in His holy Temple" — in the Temple below — like a king who sits among his people, judging, ruling, and watching over their deeds; and on the other side it appears to the masses that "His throne is in heaven" — that He has removed His providence from the earth and set the throne of His governance in heaven, as though He had handed the governance over to the heavens and the constellations, through which He conducts His world, and not through providence. And [the psalmist] explains that in truth Hashem is "in His holy Temple, and His eyes behold" and watch with individual providence; and what appears from the other side — that His throne is in heaven and that He shuts His eyes and does not watch — is because "His eyelids try the children of men" [the eyelids are what close the eyes, and this is a figure for the withdrawal of providence, when it is as though His eyes are shut by the eyelids so as not to see what is done on earth]. The reason He shuts His eyes from watching is that through this "the children of men are tried," and the deeds of the righteous come to light — whether they serve in His name — and because of this the heart of the wicked becomes full to do evil. And he explains: "Hashem tries the righteous" — Hashem conceals His providence, so that through this He tests the righteous person, whether he serves Him out of love, without any external motive — for since the righteous person is pursued by the wicked and nevertheless does not stray from his righteousness, this proves that he serves out of love. And although, because Hashem's providence is hidden, the hearts of men thereby become full to do evil, "but the wicked, and him that loves violence, His soul hates" — and therefore He leaves him in his wickedness and does not punish him until his measure is filled; and then "He will rain upon the wicked coals, fire, and brimstone," and this punishment will be "the portion of their cup" — the portion that they prepared for themselves. That is to say: first, if providence were revealed and He punished at once, [the wicked person] would be afraid to do wickedness, and there would be no trial of the wicked in this; and second, He would not be able to punish him with the great punishment of "coals, fire, and brimstone" — therefore He is patient with him until his measure is filled, and then destroys him — whether in this world, or alternatively "coals, fire, and brimstone" means in Gehinnom, as it is written, "and repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them."

"The Lord is in His Holy Temple" — Who sees and tests their deeds, and although His throne is in Heaven and is lofty, His eyes see you on the earth.

"Hashem" — the sense of 'yivchan' (He tries) is that if evil comes upon the righteous man, it is to afflict him, to test him, and to correct him, in the manner of 'for whom Hashem loves, He reproves' (Proverbs 3:12); but the wicked man, He hates forever.

"Hashem is in His holy temple" — "His holy temple" refers to the heavens. "Hashem, His throne is in heaven" — this is a doubling of the same statement. That is to say, even though "His throne is in heaven"... "His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men" — along the lines of "For Hashem is high, yet He sees the lowly" (Psalms 138:6), and He repays the righteous and the wicked, each one according to his deeds.

"Hashem is in His holy temple, etc." — Even though Hashem sits on high, dwelling in His holy temple which is in heaven, nevertheless He lowers His eyes to look upon the earth, to examine the deeds of mankind, and He knows those who deal out evil.

'Af'apav' — thus the pupil of the eye is called.

"The Lord tries the righteous" — And if, because I suffer and am pursued by you, you boast, saying (below 71:11), “God has forsaken him,” it is not so, but so is the custom of the Holy One, blessed be He, to chasten and to test the righteous but not the wicked. This flax worker as long as he knows that his flax is of high quality, he beats it, but when it is not of high quality, he crushes it only a little because it breaks. "His soul hates" — He lays away the recompense for his iniquities for the “long world,” and then He showers [punishment] upon them [sic] in Gehinnom.

"Hashem tries the righteous" — along the lines of "For whom Hashem loves, He reproves" (Proverbs 3:12); He brings troubles upon him and tests him before the eyes of the world, to show his righteousness to mankind, for his heart will never falter because of the troubles, and this cleanses him of his transgressions; "But the wicked and the one who loves violence, His soul hates" — but "the wicked one who loves violence, His soul hates" him too much to reprove him, for he will not accept reproof, until his time comes and He destroys him from the world. And this is what [the next verse] states:

"Hashem tries the righteous" — The fact that I am pursued by Saul is not because of sin; rather, it is Hashem's way to test the righteous through suffering, [to see] whether he will stand firm in his righteousness, so as to improve his end — and it is not out of hatred that He afflicts him. "But the wicked" — the wicked, however, He hates, even though he is free of suffering.

"charcoal" — Heb. פחים, an expression of charcoal (פחם). "burning" — Heb. זלעפות, an expression of burning. Menachem (p. 79) interprets it as an expression of (Isa. 28:2) “a storm of destruction (שער קטב).” Likewise, (in Lam. 5:10), “because of the heat of (זלעפות) hunger”; (below 119:53), “burning (זלעפה) seized me.” That is to say, (as in Ezek. 27:35), “became greatly alarmed (שערו שער).” (The quotation from Menachem appears only in several early printed editions, and not in any manuscript.)

"He will cause to rain" [yamter] — He likens the calamity that comes suddenly upon the wicked to burning coals, related to 'hammered plates' (Numbers 17:3) — which are like burning stones that fall together with the rain. "Burning wind" [zal'afot] — like 'horror has seized me' (Psalm 119:53), meaning like trembling. "Their cup" [kosam] — [means] their portion. Likewise, 'Hashem is the portion of my share and my cup' (Psalm 16:5); and these [words] belong to the doubled-root verbs, and the proof is 'you shall apportion for the lamb' (Exodus 12:4).

"Upon the wicked He will cause to rain coals [pachim]" — from "the snare [pach] of the fowler" (Hosea 9:8). And it says "He will rain" because decrees come from the heavens. Some explain (Targum and Rashi) that "pachim" is like "charcoal [pecham] for coals" (Proverbs 26:21), which follows a different grammatical pattern. And the sage Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained it like "the beaten plates [rik'ei pachim]" (Numbers 17:3), meaning they are like burning stones that come down together with the rain. "Fire and brimstone and a raging wind [zil'afot]" — "zil'afot": the zayin has a hirik and the ayin has a kamatz, from "burning indignation [zal'afah] has seized me" (Psalms 119:53) — meaning trembling, or meaning burning. "The portion of their cup" — its meaning is: their share. Likewise, "the portion of my share and my cup" (Psalms 16:5). And "portion" [manat] is construed together with both "share" and "cup" even though they are one and the same notion, like "dust of the ground [admat afar]" (Daniel 12:2); "the mire of the deep [tit hayaven]" (Psalms 40:3). Or this is because "manat" also carries the sense of an appointed allotment.

"He will cause to rain" — for in the end he will receive his full recompense, for many snares will rain down upon him from heaven like rain, and he will be caught in them. "The portion of their cup" — the portion that fills their cup will be from a raging wind — that is, He will bring great punishment upon them.

'Pachim' — [meaning] snares, as in 'from the snare of the fowler' (below, Psalm 91). 'Zal'afot' — trembling, as in 'horror has taken hold upon me' (below, Psalm 119). 'Menat' — a portion and a gift, as in 'and it shall be your portion' (Exodus 29).

"For the Lord is righteous; He loves [workers of] righteousness" — and has mercy on the righteous and loves those whose faces see the straight [way], in whose sight the straight way is proper. "whose faces approve of the straight" — This refers to “The Lord is righteous; He loves [workers of] righteousness and those whose faces approve of the straight [way].” Our Sages [Mid. Ps. 11:2, Sanh. 26a, Lev. Rabbah 5:5] interpreted “the wicked tread the bow” as referring to Shebna and his company, and they interpreted “the upright of heart” as referring to Hezekiah and his company. "For the foundations are destroyed" — If the foundations are destroyed by them, what did the Righteous One of the world accomplish? The sequence of verses, though, does not concur with the Midrash.

"For" [ki, introducing 'panimo,' His face] — Rabbi Moshe said: 'panimo' stands for 'panav' (his face), similarly to 'yiskon aleimo maskil' [where a plural suffix stands for a singular referent]. Yefet said: that it follows the pattern of 'as God caused me to wander' (Genesis 20:13) [a plural verb used with the divine name in a singular sense]. But he did not speak correctly, for a plural verb form is not found with the honored Name [Hashem] — only with the name 'Elohim,' for a deep secret reason. Nor do we find 'the face' used with 'seeing' — only 'the eyes,' which are what is visible. And there is no proof from 'the face of Hashem is their portion' (Lamentations 4:16), for it is like 'the face of Hashem is against those who do evil' (Psalm 34:17). But the correct view is that 'yechezu' (they shall behold) refers back to the phrase 'yivchanu benei adam' (He tests the children of men) [verse 4], even though it is distant [in the text]; or, 'yechezu' means 'the seers,' like 'she who bore her to Levi' (Numbers 26:59), [where the subject is likewise left unspecified]. And the word 'yashar' (upright) is an adjective, and the sense is 'a just judgment,' as in 'and Your judgments are upright' (Psalm 119:137).

"For Hashem is righteous, He loves righteousness" — "righteousness" [means] a man of righteousness, like "but I am prayer" [i.e., a man of prayer] (Psalms 109:4) "The upright shall behold His face [panimo]" — and the upright man's "face" [panav] is beheld, along the lines of "and I will turn toward you" [show you favor] (Leviticus 26:9). "Panimo" is like "panav" [his face]; and likewise "for can he be profitable unto him [alaymo]" (Job 22:2) is like "alav" [unto him]. Or the meaning of "the upright shall behold panimo" is along the lines of "I, in righteousness, shall behold Your face" (Psalms 17:15). Or the meaning of "panimo" is "their faces," according to its plain sense, for the mem and vav form a plural. And its meaning is: the face of the righteous shall behold God, who is upright. And in the Midrash (Shocher Tov, with a slight variation): It should have said only "the upright shall behold His face," or "the upright one shall behold His face" — what then is [the meaning of] "the upright shall behold panimo"? Rather: the faces of the upright shall behold the Upright One of the world.

"Righteousness" — the righteous man He loves, and He will not abandon him into the hand of his enemies. "The upright" — the upright man will behold the face of Hashem; this is a metaphor drawn from a king, whereby whomever he loves is among those granted an audience [lit. "those who see his face"].

"For" — he explains how through this the righteous person is tested: for if the conduct of providence were revealed, and He paid the righteous his reward at once, then [the righteous person] would be turning to do righteousness for the sake of reward and recompense. But "Hashem is righteous" — He "loves acts of righteousness" on condition that the acts of righteousness "look straight, they behold His face" — [meaning] if the acts of righteousness look straight toward the face of Hashem, that is, if the goal and intention of the righteous acts is for the sake of Hashem alone. Not so if one performs righteous acts for the sake of reward and recompense — for then they do not turn to Hashem in a straight way, but only "look toward" [Him] by a crooked path, in that his eyes look toward the reward he will receive, and by way of this [ulterior] motive he looks toward Hashem to perform His commandments; and such acts of righteousness Hashem does not love. Therefore He withholds from him the reward of his service, and he encounters evils and troubles — and by this it is tested whether he performed righteous acts only for the sake of Hashem, and whether his turning was in a straight way.